The Walking Dead: Where Are The Wolves?

Following tonight’s season premiere of The Walking Dead, we have one lingering question: where are the Wolves?

Spoilers follow if you have not yet watched First Time Again (06×01).

During the season six premiere, the Wolves seem to be a bit of an after thought. Sure, there were bigger walkers to fry, but following Aaron and Daryl’s encounter near the food trucks and Morgan’s knowledge of this group, you would think there might be some sort of urgency to deal with this group or at least learn more. However, that wasn’t the case in the premiere. Instead, Rick and the group tried their best to handle the quarry flooded with undead, and the Wolves were merely a mention.

So, aside from “Not far,” where are the Wolves?

The fact that a massive horde is headed to Alexandria, indicating the “No Way Out” storyline from the comics is upon us, without a gunfight with the Scavengers taking place to attract them, leaves me to believe there are two options:

• Scavenging Alexandria
• The “Sanctuary”

If the horns which sounded at the end of “First Time Again” are in fact coming from Alexandria, it’s possible the Wolves will turn out to be the DC Scavengers, alluded to by Heath when he said, “The only city worth scavenging is DC.” The horn may be a cry for help from home while most of the worthy defenders are out trying to move the massive horde. If this is the case, it would seem the DC Scavengers gate feud and No Way Out storyline are being combined into one event.

The fact that the ‘Wolf’ Morgan encountered in season five’s finale had a gun with no bullets would indicate that he is a scavenger rather than a soldier. I’m not so sure any of Negan’s men would be sent out of The Sanctuary without bullets.

However, there is the more likely scenario that the Wolves are actually the television equivalent to Negan’s self-proclaimed Saviors group. In this case, they are probably kicking back at their warehouse called The Sanctuary while communities are forced supply them with food, water, and other resources. The Saviors certainly seem to fit this Wolves mold better than the DC Scavengers, seeing as they are a much more organized and established group from the comics. The Wolves are most likely out terrorizing other communities until they stumble upon Alexandria later this season.

Negan is also known for his methods of punishing his men. In The Walking Dead comics, he will typically press and iron against someone’s face when they disagree with him. The W’s on foreheads may be a substitute, or early sign of that, to show their loyalty to his rule.

Andrew Lincoln certainly foreshadowed Negan and his band of crazies’ arrival when I spoke to him earlier this week. While talking about his work on the last four episodes of the season, he said, “We’re going face some very, very formidable and scary and dangerous folk.” If that doesn’t sound like Negan and the Saviors, nothing does. Doubtful that the Wolves will come and go between now and episode 12 of season 6.

The Walking Dead airs Sunday nights at 9 PM EST on AMC.